Ran the Ruff.I am pleased to report that a good time was had by all once again at the Runnin' in the Ruff trail 10K in Milaca, Minnesota.
I got there anticipating a big crowd of other unregistered runners, as the Ruff is the 2009 Minnesota Trail Series championship race. I had plenty of time to relax in the car (read: wait until the allergy medication wore off enough to not make me sound like a stoner, then go talk to folks before the race started).
Have anyone else's allergies been pure evil this year? Gaaahhh. I am ready for the trees to stop mating.
I wheezed to the start, talking to Jeff Allen, John Kendrick and John Pitera about plans for the season and the races that they'd already run. In front of us were the usual gang of High School XC runners and some pretty serious looking runners. I say that because they showed up in all their kit with the Gear West logos on them and they all had on new-looking road running shoes.
They were not going to stay new looking for long!
An age group placing looked out of the question...I decided just to go out there and get muddy and try to beat my time from last year.
Cindy (the race director) told me that the course was very runnable this year, despite the usual mud - this is a trail race...it's supposed to be muddy.
This year they got good and official with the start and started the race with a real shot out of a real six-shooter! I sprinted ahead from the middle of the pack and got in at the tail end of the lead group. I wanted to not be in traffic through the singletrack.
I kept up as best as my wheezing lungs would let me...Jeff Allen eventually disappeared into the woods, my quads were shaking and I was breathing hard through my mouth. No way to start the race! I eased up a tad, let two people pass and then started breathing more steadily. I managed well through the first singletrack, but still feel like I ran conservatively through a lot of it.
There is a section that follows the shore of a small lake, that's where the wind plays tricks with your mind and I lost another spot to a fast roadie.
We got back in the woods and at one point I could see the leaders and the middle of the pack simultaneously in different parts of the woods. I was having a ball on the mildly technical stuff that would turn into foot sucking mud and then back into runnable trail.
There were some walkers on the trail that were very concientious of the runners and kept to the side of the trail. That was nice of them, although I almost ran over a child. That wouldn't have been good.
I looked at my watch to see that twenty five minutes had elapsed and I was only 3 miles in. Dangit! This was not the pace I had hoped to run. Such is life and the state of my fitness so far this year.
There were a few more puddles to barrel through - no pussyfooting around for me. I ran straight through them.
Kicked a rock with my little toe. Shook it off...Will cry about it later.
Finally passed two people and kept them behind me for the rest of the run. Thank you, Jesus. Passed the eventual female first place winner. Another victory.
Scrambled up a small hill to see Steve Quick at the top dressed neatly in civilian clothes holding a newspaper and pencil, cheering runners on and telling them which way to go. "What is this?" I thought..."A frickin' dream?"
Made it out to the grassy strip after some piney woods that means the finish is only a short distance away. Side stitch. Arm behind back. Breathe. Better. Side Stitch. Repeat arm process.
Gutted it out and beat my last year's Runnin' in the Ruff time by seven seconds. I'll take it.
Walked around breathing heavy, stopping to bend over and seriously considered leaving my morning Powerbar, banana and GU shot in a puddle on the road. Told Jeff Allen the run "sucked. wheeze. so. wheeze. bad." What I meant was it was a different set of muscles that I have to use to run nearly all-out for 6.2 miles.
Then I got a chance to cheer runners in, talk to people I see once a year, including one girl I've seen there three years running. The first year she told me she would never run more than 2 miles. Ever.
Well this year she ran the 2 miler at Runnin' in the Ruff fresh off of running the St. Cloud Earth Day Half-Marathon and is going to Fargo next weekend to run a 5K...then it's all Brainerd and Sour Grapes half-marathon for her. So awesome!
There was the Uber-Fit couple I saw at last year's Runnin' in the Ruff, then at the Superior 25K, and then at Trail Mix a couple of weeks ago. I didn't recognize Bill's wife Laura in her sunglasses and in my allergy medicated and post-race general lightheaded state...Sorry! I promise to say hello and be more cordial at Superior in a couple of weeks.
Kate Havelin gave me some muffins she won. I hope she wins more baked goods, as she is wheat intolerant and I will gladly eat them for her.
Okay folks...back to training!
I got there anticipating a big crowd of other unregistered runners, as the Ruff is the 2009 Minnesota Trail Series championship race. I had plenty of time to relax in the car (read: wait until the allergy medication wore off enough to not make me sound like a stoner, then go talk to folks before the race started).
Have anyone else's allergies been pure evil this year? Gaaahhh. I am ready for the trees to stop mating.
I wheezed to the start, talking to Jeff Allen, John Kendrick and John Pitera about plans for the season and the races that they'd already run. In front of us were the usual gang of High School XC runners and some pretty serious looking runners. I say that because they showed up in all their kit with the Gear West logos on them and they all had on new-looking road running shoes.
They were not going to stay new looking for long!
An age group placing looked out of the question...I decided just to go out there and get muddy and try to beat my time from last year.
Cindy (the race director) told me that the course was very runnable this year, despite the usual mud - this is a trail race...it's supposed to be muddy.
This year they got good and official with the start and started the race with a real shot out of a real six-shooter! I sprinted ahead from the middle of the pack and got in at the tail end of the lead group. I wanted to not be in traffic through the singletrack.
I kept up as best as my wheezing lungs would let me...Jeff Allen eventually disappeared into the woods, my quads were shaking and I was breathing hard through my mouth. No way to start the race! I eased up a tad, let two people pass and then started breathing more steadily. I managed well through the first singletrack, but still feel like I ran conservatively through a lot of it.
There is a section that follows the shore of a small lake, that's where the wind plays tricks with your mind and I lost another spot to a fast roadie.
We got back in the woods and at one point I could see the leaders and the middle of the pack simultaneously in different parts of the woods. I was having a ball on the mildly technical stuff that would turn into foot sucking mud and then back into runnable trail.
There were some walkers on the trail that were very concientious of the runners and kept to the side of the trail. That was nice of them, although I almost ran over a child. That wouldn't have been good.
I looked at my watch to see that twenty five minutes had elapsed and I was only 3 miles in. Dangit! This was not the pace I had hoped to run. Such is life and the state of my fitness so far this year.
There were a few more puddles to barrel through - no pussyfooting around for me. I ran straight through them.
Kicked a rock with my little toe. Shook it off...Will cry about it later.
Finally passed two people and kept them behind me for the rest of the run. Thank you, Jesus. Passed the eventual female first place winner. Another victory.
Scrambled up a small hill to see Steve Quick at the top dressed neatly in civilian clothes holding a newspaper and pencil, cheering runners on and telling them which way to go. "What is this?" I thought..."A frickin' dream?"
Made it out to the grassy strip after some piney woods that means the finish is only a short distance away. Side stitch. Arm behind back. Breathe. Better. Side Stitch. Repeat arm process.
Gutted it out and beat my last year's Runnin' in the Ruff time by seven seconds. I'll take it.
Walked around breathing heavy, stopping to bend over and seriously considered leaving my morning Powerbar, banana and GU shot in a puddle on the road. Told Jeff Allen the run "sucked. wheeze. so. wheeze. bad." What I meant was it was a different set of muscles that I have to use to run nearly all-out for 6.2 miles.
Then I got a chance to cheer runners in, talk to people I see once a year, including one girl I've seen there three years running. The first year she told me she would never run more than 2 miles. Ever.
Well this year she ran the 2 miler at Runnin' in the Ruff fresh off of running the St. Cloud Earth Day Half-Marathon and is going to Fargo next weekend to run a 5K...then it's all Brainerd and Sour Grapes half-marathon for her. So awesome!
There was the Uber-Fit couple I saw at last year's Runnin' in the Ruff, then at the Superior 25K, and then at Trail Mix a couple of weeks ago. I didn't recognize Bill's wife Laura in her sunglasses and in my allergy medicated and post-race general lightheaded state...Sorry! I promise to say hello and be more cordial at Superior in a couple of weeks.
Kate Havelin gave me some muffins she won. I hope she wins more baked goods, as she is wheat intolerant and I will gladly eat them for her.
Okay folks...back to training!
6 comments:
AWESOME run! As always I am really impressed!
I'm thinking about trying a little trail running this summer. I won't go anywhere NEAR your distances but I think I'd really enjoy running trails versus pavement.
Hi, Keith. I discovered your blog about a week ago while researching VFF. I'm on day 4 and loving them!!
First, thanks Stranger for such a detailed review of the VFFs. It certainly helped take the leap into barefoot footwear.:)
Second, I thought I'd try to pass on the goodwill by recommending you use a neti pot to clear your sinuses (assuming you don't/haven't). This is my first Spring ever without a massive sinus infection, and I thank the neti pot for it. Check this article from NY Times reporting research shows "regular nasal irrigation with a mild saline solution significantly eased symptoms" (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/14/health/14real.html). You can buy a pot for $10-$15 at your local drug store. Hope you feel better!
Stellar race report, Keith. I can't wait to read about the rest of your race season. LOVE the pic of the muddy KSOs. :)
Glad you had fun! Sounds like it was a great event.
Hey, I didn't pull out the newspaper until AFTER all the runners went by me - one thing at a time - and I only needed the walk back to the finish to do the cross-word puzzle anyway (the missing words were "ansa" and "aetat", by the way).
You looked pretty speedy out there!
Yep, I was one of those walkers on the trial! One of the front runners in the 2 mile took a wrong turn and a large group of us followed him, we all ended up on the 6 mile corse (if you look at the race results you'll see us in the bottom of the results!) We were about 3 miles into it when we realized that we were on the wrong trail! Next year we are going to listen to the race corse intructions! At least it was a beautiful day so we enjoyed it!
Anyhow, awesome job on your run!
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